How important is the Oxford comma? The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that in some cases, it is essential.

The appeals court was hearing a case about overtime rules in Maine. A group of delivery drivers sued their Dairy employer, saying they qualified for overtime based on Maine's law - because of a missing Oxford comma.

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Maine's overtime law excludes people who work with certain food products. It states the law does not apply to employees who are involved in "The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agriculture produce; (2) meat and fish products; and (3) perishable foods.

The drivers lost an earlier ruling in the case because a lower court said the law was unambigious in its intention that the law applied to both packers and distributors.

The appeals court said the law wasn’t clear and must be taken at face value – meaning it applies to people who both pack and distribute food products.

"Each party recognizes that, by its bare terms, Exemption F raises questions as to its scope, largely due to the fact that no comma precedes the words 'or distribution,'" the court wrote in its ruling.

While the dairy pointed out that Maine’s Legislative Drafting Manual specifically says not to use the Oxford comma, the court ruled against the dairy and sent the case back to a lower court for additional proceedings.